Renton Says Club Too Loud; Owners See Racial Bias

RENTON - Puget Sound's most popular new nightclub is so hot it's criminal.

That's the view of Renton officials, who this week filed six criminal charges against a 5-month-old jazz and dance club called Castle Rock, alleging the nightspot is too noisy.

But the owner of the club, who may face jail if found guilty, says neighbors and city officials are not as bothered by loud dance music as the fact that the former Elks Lodge now draws up to 800 mostly African-American and Asian-American customers a night.

"We're being penalized for being successful and black," said Michael Prineas, who opened Castle Rock in June because, he said, the region lacked "sophisticated" nightclubs.

"They don't want to say it's racial, but the neighbors come out and look at us with binoculars like we're aliens. I don't think they want to see all these black people over here."

Neighbors in adjacent condominiums and city officials say the racial mix of the clientele is irrelevant.

Noise readings taken as late as 3 a.m. last month showed that patrons yelling and laughing, honking horns and playing car stereos were two to three times as loud as the city's noise ordinance allows.

A car stereo at 2:18 a.m. measured 68 decibels, about as loud as a busy freeway. A car horn honking repeatedly at 12:20 a.m. measured 80 decibels, as loud as a vacuum cleaner at close range.

Typically, noise problems are resolved without going to court, but mayor's assistant Jay Covington said the problems with Castle Rock are so intractable - and the residents so beleaguered - that the city decided to enforce its little-used criminal noise ordinance.

"We've never gone to these lengths before" with a noisy business, Covington said. Each of the six charges, for two alleged noise violations on each of three separate nights, is a misdemeanor and carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail or a $500 fine, or both.

In many cities, businesses are issued civil, noncriminal citations and given several months to quiet down, according to a review of noise ordinances by the Municipal Research Center in Kirkland.

In Renton, the club is being prosecuted under a public-disturbance ordinance, as if it were an individual disturbing the peace.

Prineas said the city's own noise report, prepared for $6,000 by a private consultant, proves his club is being singled out for punishment. Standing on a neighbor's deck with a noise meter, the consultant found that background noise from the club's rooftop air-handling unit also violates the city's ordinance.

It's the same air-handling unit that was used by the Elks Lodge for decades, Prineas said, and no one ever complained.

"So, it's fine when it's the Elks, but not when it's Castle Rock," he said.

Police say the club has sparked nearly 100 complaints, and virtually all are noise-related. Unlike some notoriously noisy clubs in Seattle, Castle Rock has not been the scene of fights, drug sales or other criminal activity, city officials say.

It draws a high-class clientele, Prineas says. Limousines frequently pull up to the door. On Fridays and Saturdays, there's an $8 cover charge. Customers in jeans, T-shirts or tennis shoes are turned away.

The club will contest the noise charges, Prineas said, and in the meantime, it's hotter than ever.

"The Sonics and Seahawks come in here; we've had Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, even Fabio," Prineas said. "It's a happenin' place to be."